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Over an extended period, threatening phone calls persisted. Originally, supposedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, and then from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a high-value project where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces bulldozed and modernized by a large business group.

"The culture of the slum is like nowhere else in the globe," states Shaikh. "However the plan aims to destroy our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are built haphazardly and frequently missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is permeated by the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

For certain residents, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of luxury high-rises, neat parks, contemporary malls and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream realized.

"We don't have proper healthcare, paved pathways or water management and we have no places for kids to enjoy," states a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from his home state in the early eighties. "The only way is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, like this protester, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that Dharavi, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this initiative – lacking resident participation – might turn valuable urban land into an elite enclave, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have resided there since the late 1800s.

It was these shunned, displaced people who built up the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and economic productivity, whose economic value is worth between a significant amount and $2m annually, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly one million residents living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be able for alternative accommodation in the project, which is projected to take seven years to finish. Others will be relocated to barren areas and coastal regions on the remote edges of the metropolis, risking divide a generations-old neighborhood. Some will receive no homes at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the natural, communal way of residing and operating that has supported the community for many years.

Businesses from clothing production to clay work and recycling are expected to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" far from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of this protester, a leather artisan and long-time resident to live in the slum, the project presents an existential threat. His makeshift, three-storey operation produces apparel – sharp blazers, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – distributed in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and overseas.

Relatives resides in the spaces below and laborers and tailors – workers from other states – reside on-site, enabling him to afford their labour. Beyond this community, housing costs are typically 10 times more expensive for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

Within the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a contrasting perspective. Well-groomed residents move around on cycles and eco-friendly transport, buying continental bread and pastries and having coffee on a terrace adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This represents a world away from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't development for us," explains the artisan. "It represents a huge property transaction that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the development company. Run by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has faced accusations of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it denies.

While administrative bodies labels it a collaborative effort, the business group invested a significant amount for its 80% stake. A lawsuit stating that the initiative was improperly granted to the developer is pending in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to publicly resist the project, Shaikh and other residents state they have been faced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – involving communications, explicit warnings and insinuations that opposing the development was tantamount to speaking against the country – by individuals they claim work for the business conglomerate.

Part of the group accused of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c